"I strive to use the skills I developed during my time at UBCO to make a difference in the medical field with the hope of making human life better!"
Emily Earl
- Degree:
- Master of Applied Science
- Grad year: 2021
- Program:
- Campus: Okanagan
My name is Emily and I began my UBCO journey in 2014 with a B.A.Sc in Mechanical Engineering and continued it in 2019 with a M.A.Sc in Mechanical Engineering.
I spent as much of my time as possible at UBC learning from others. Of course, a portion of this was learning the fundamentals from courses, but I also spent a large amount of time in the last few years of my undergraduate degree working in various research labs on campus.
Working in the labs allowed me to incorporate some of the skills I learned from my degree to real life projects and encouraged me to further think outside the box.
Now that I have started my master’s degree, I get to continue my personal learning while spending some of my time helping others learn as well! Two summers ago, I acted as a mentor for the Stewards in Engineering Education (SEED) program and encouraged two high school students to build a device on their own which is still actively used in the Advanced Thermofluidic Laboratory. Since then, I have continued to introduce undergraduate students into the lab and show them what research can look like, just as someone did for me in my undergraduate degree. As I continue to learn, I hope that I can pass on just as much knowledge to others around me!
Stewards in Engineering Education (SEED)
What has made your time at UBC memorable?
A big part of why UBCO has stuck with me over the years is the people. When I first started working in the lab, I had made a small group of lab friends and every day, our little group would go eat lunch together behind the engineering building. We would chat, play frisbee, and enjoy our time in the sun. Over the years, our lunch group has gotten smaller, then bigger, then smaller again, but whenever life permits, we still make sure to have our lunch together and chat while enjoying the sun.
Tell us about your experience in your program. What have you learned that is most valuable?
The most valuable skill that I learned during my master’s program is how to embrace failure.
Before I began studying at UBC, I was terrified of making mistakes, but engineering has shown me that sometimes you need to fail before you can approach success. Failure can help outline different advantages and limitations, can help provide a clear path for improvement, and can be the first step towards something amazing. Learning to recognize failure as an actual part of the process and not a hindrance to it is a very important lesson.
What advice would you give a student entering your degree program?
Remember to be kind to yourself. A master’s degree is a lot of work, a lot of your time will be spent reading, writing, performing experiments, and discussing the odds and ends of your project with others. While it is important to work hard, it is also important to rest.
Make sure to set aside some time for yourself to visit with friends, do the things you love, and get a good night’s sleep – I can promise you, you are worth it.
How do you feel your degree has benefitted you compared to a different field of study?
Engineering helped me learn how to problem solve, think creatively, and adapt to change. As an undergraduate student, these concepts are introduced through group projects. Often times things will go wrong – prototypes won’t end up working like you had envisioned them, team members will disagree on how to fix them, and it can be difficult to determine a way to move forward.
Learning to communicate effectively with team members and work together is an essential skill that everyone will likely need at some point in their life, and studying engineering provides a path to do so. While problem solving, creative thinking and the ability to adapt are skills used for engineering design, they are also essential for communicating and working as a team and it is easy to forget that!
Where do you find your inspiration?
My inspiration comes from all around me!
Working in a lab with a bunch of individuals who are all so incredibly passionate about their research makes it easy to be inspired. Regardless of how different our projects may be, the excitement, confidence, and curiosity are all contagious and spread throughout the lab!
I am also inspired by the desire to make life better.
After I spent time researching for my current project, I noticed that there are many gaps in knowledge regarding currently used heartburn medications and the same is likely true for a variety of different medications and treatments out there. If I can somehow contribute to closing even one of those gaps, it could help plenty of people someday and the thought of that alone is incredibly powerful.
